Blue Ribbon
by QueenMimi96
Summary: The boy with the chocolate-brown curls, Drake Carne, had stolen her heart as soon as she set eyes on him. And she always looked forward to seeing him at church when she'd go with her older sister. But she never knew that one day, she'd finally get the chance to talk to him. All because of that one blue ribbon.


His hair was dark and fell in chocolate curls around his face. His clothes were shabby and I could see holes in the elbows of his jacket even from across the church. But there was something undefinably beautiful about him that took my breath away - maybe it was the dark eyes or the way he smiled. Either way, it was intoxicating just to catch a glimpse of him. It was partly the reason I came here so much. I could have just as well gone to the church the Warleggans attended.

In fact, it was much closer to my home than this one was. But still...the other church didn't have this boy - this-this beautiful man who could make me blush with just one mere look my way. He didn't even know what power he held over me - I don't think he even knew I existed. To him, I was just another attendant of the church - another civilian of this town. But to me, he was everything. His brother, Sam, was up at the front now, beginning to sing another song as someone played the piano.

I felt my sister bump my shoulder beside me and I shot her a quizzical expression before she tilted her head towards the other side of the room. Following her gestures, my eyes met the dark brown orbs of that younger Carne brother I liked so much. He was smiling over at me, the dimples in his cheeks showing as he did. I felt a blush creep up my neck and I quickly looked away, a shy smile forming on my face as I glanced down at my shoes. Oh, why did he have that power over me?! It was like my body was incapable of doing anything remotely dignified when he was near.

It was embarrassing and as my sister kept reminding me, entirely disgraceful of a young lady. I didn't care, though. All I wanted to do was be close to him. Church was over before we knew it and soon, I was walking down the dirt pathway just outside of Nampara with my sister ahead of me, thoughts of Drake still stuck in my head. All of a sudden, a breeze blew through my hair then and the blue ribbon I had tied in my hair came loose, fluttering away in the wind. I was just about to reach a hand up to catch it when another captured it before I could.

"Does this belong to ye?" a soft voice asked and slowly, I lifted my gaze to meet brown orbs as my ribbon was held out to me.

I was held in a trance by those eyes. So many colors swirled in their warm depths - flecks of green, brown, and gold. Suddenly, I felt as if I couldn't breathe and I glanced down, blushing once again. Gently, he picked up my hand and pushed the ribbing into my waiting palm. Finally glancing up, I saw him smile down at me and I couldn't help but smile back.

"Are ye from around here? I don't think I know thee," he said, tilting his head slightly to the side.

Nodding shyly, I spoke up, "I just moved here with my family. We live in a cottage not far from here,"

Slowly, he took my hand in his - his fingers calloused from farm-work but gentle all the same.

"Well, I look forward to seeing more of ye then, Miss...?" he trailed off, arching an eyebrow inquisitively.

"Harper. Jane Harper," I supplied, my voice almost catching in my throat as I gazed up at him.

He smiled widely then and what he did next took my breath away. Drake pressed his lips to the back of my hand, his mouth soft like rose petals on my skin. A flutter of butterflies erupted in my stomach at the mere touch just before he pulled away, releasing my hand. He tipped his hat to me then and sent me a small smile.

"Good day, Miss Harper. I look forward to seeing ye again next Sunday." he said, a shyness creeping into his voice that I found adorable.

"And I you, Mr. Carne." I replied, feeling the hint of a blush tint my cheeks as he walked back to the door to bid goodbye to the other attendees.

As I walked away down the dirt path, I fingered the blue ribbon in my hands and grinned to myself. Oh, I was sure to come back next Sunday.


End file.
